The Executive Director of The Ark Foundation and Chairperson of the Civic Forum Initiative, Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has stated that decorating Vice President and New Patriotic Party flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia with the highest national honour after his significant loss in an election ridicules him.

Dr Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate in the recently concluded 2024 election, was awarded the “Order of the Star of Ghana – Officer Award” at the 2024 National Honours event, held on Monday, December 30, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre. The award recognized his contributions to religious tolerance and national unity.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile, Dr Dwamena-Aboagye expressed her excitement about some individuals who were also recognized and awarded on the night.

However, she shared her disappointment upon realizing that some government appointees had been awarded despite public criticism.

“When people are assessing you, especially in the time we were in when the elections had happened, there’s a massive vote against you, and you keep awarding appointee after appointee. Even if they deserved it, I think that the optics were not good, the underpinnings, the partisanship behind it,” she noted.

She further questioned the reasons behind the president’s decision to award his own appointees.

“So, is there nobody deserving of an award who expresses an opposite view from yours, even though the person is also a citizen?” she queried.

Despite acknowledging Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia's accomplishments, Dr Dwamena-Aboagye described the honour conferred upon him as ridiculing his personality after his significant loss to his opponent.

“Nobody doubts that Dr Bawumia is a very accomplished person, his persona, his everything. I even heard he has an international appointment already. But when you give him the highest award when he has just lost massively, I mean, you put him into ridicule,” she concluded.

Read also: Akufo-Addo decorates Bawumia with the prestigious ‘Order of the Star of Ghana’ at 2024 National Honours